OPD releases name of man whose body was found near Paddock Mall

Ocala Police Department evidence technician Marsha Zarco brings out bags of evidence in the area behind the Sears Auto Center at the Paddock Mall in Ocala, where a decomposing human body was found on Wednesday.

Published: Thursday, January 17, 2013 at 11:15 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, January 17, 2013 at 3:59 p.m.

Police have released the name of the man whose decomposed body was found Wednesday in a heavily wooded area near the Sears Auto Center at the Paddock Mall.

The man has been identified as David Michael Wells, 55.

According to Ocala Police Department officials he was homeless. Police have had multiple run-ins with Wells, most recently on Sept. 19.

An autopsy was conducted Thursday morning, and Detective Mat Steckman said there were no signs of foul play. The manner of death, however, remains undetermined.

Steckman they still do not know how long the body, which was badly decomposed, was in the heavily wooded area.

Officer Robert Brown's report states that when he arrived at the scene Wednesday morning, just east of the auto center, he talked with a Sheriff's Office employee who was standing at the edge of the roadway. The employee said a man flagged him down and told him about seeing a dead body. The employee went into the wooded area, saw the body and called police.

The man who found the body, Obed Fernandez, an employee at ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance, told the officer he was trimming bushes on the edge of the roadway at the rear east entrance to the mall when he smelled a bad odor coming from the wooded area. He said he looked in the bushes and saw a bicycle and what appeared to be a body on the ground. That's when he saw the Sheriff's Office employee and told the official about the discovery

In the area where the body was found, Brown noted, were two pairs of shoes, a black wallet and a blue and white bicycle. One pair of shoes was next to the bicycle, the other was near the body. The bicycle handle bars appeared to be twisted and stuck in the ground. Inside the wallet were two debit cards and a medical card. There was a print of an identification card on the inside of the wallet's plastic holder, but the print was not readable.

<p>Police have released the name of the man whose decomposed body was found Wednesday in a heavily wooded area near the Sears Auto Center at the Paddock Mall.</p><p>The man has been identified as David Michael Wells, 55.</p><p>According to Ocala Police Department officials he was homeless. Police have had multiple run-ins with Wells, most recently on Sept. 19.</p><p>An autopsy was conducted Thursday morning, and Detective Mat Steckman said there were no signs of foul play. The manner of death, however, remains undetermined.</p><p>Steckman they still do not know how long the body, which was badly decomposed, was in the heavily wooded area.</p><p>Officer Robert Brown's report states that when he arrived at the scene Wednesday morning, just east of the auto center, he talked with a Sheriff's Office employee who was standing at the edge of the roadway. The employee said a man flagged him down and told him about seeing a dead body. The employee went into the wooded area, saw the body and called police.</p><p>The man who found the body, Obed Fernandez, an employee at ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance, told the officer he was trimming bushes on the edge of the roadway at the rear east entrance to the mall when he smelled a bad odor coming from the wooded area. He said he looked in the bushes and saw a bicycle and what appeared to be a body on the ground. That's when he saw the Sheriff's Office employee and told the official about the discovery</p><p>In the area where the body was found, Brown noted, were two pairs of shoes, a black wallet and a blue and white bicycle. One pair of shoes was next to the bicycle, the other was near the body. The bicycle handle bars appeared to be twisted and stuck in the ground. Inside the wallet were two debit cards and a medical card. There was a print of an identification card on the inside of the wallet's plastic holder, but the print was not readable.</p><p><I>Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118 or austin.miller@starbanner.com.</i></p>